Beervana

[Minutes from our recent meeting featuring the illustrious and honored guest Jeff Holland, Creative Loafing's own beer guru, will soon be featured. In the mean time, enjoy this post!]

Greetings earthlings from Beervana, that is, Portland Oregon. Yes, it is everything Ben and I dreamed it would be--good food, glorious city, wonderful principles that are echoed in the people and the land, and most certainly, good beer! Add to that some good friends and kick a$$ good weather and we are well into enjoying our vacation here.

Well, we haven't been here too long. Err, not even two full days. But I arrived on Fri night and waited for Ben to get in at the Rogue Ale House wedged right in between our gates (D5 and D7--he was coming in from DC, myself from ATL). Had the delicious Sesquicentennial Ale, which I'm pretty sure I'd had before, but I still enjoyed it in its tall glass. I was not exactly in quite a "reviewer mode" so I'll leave it at that.

Saturday took us to Kenny & Zuke's, a Jewish style deli, where I first tried the Ninkasi IPA. BeerAdvocate gives it a B+ overall but I don't agree. It was a quintessential West-coast piney citrusy delicious floral amazing fruity IPA. So far my favorite in Oregon (well, of 2)

Next up, Deschutes Brewery. The one in Portland, that is. I'd been told this pub/brewery wasn't too special (though the beer we can all agree is excellent) but I beg to differ. Even from an asthetic point of view. Gorgeously rennovated garage with exposed beams and rafters, exposed brick walls, etc. Quite loud and large and I wasn't a fan of the TVs on the wall, but we sat outside for my 6 sampler. You can check out the Deschutes beers here. The Green Lakes Organic Ale was surprisingly good. I don't know why I didn't think an organic beer would be good. What prejudice! The Obsidian Stout was a wash, weak, watery, tasteless, like a bad porter, in my humble (or not so) opinion. The Inversion IPA was a real solid IPA, but not quite as tasty as the Ninkasi. The Red Chair IPA was delicious. While I couldn't drink a whole cup of it, I think my favorite was the Black Butte XXI, a yummy barrel aged beer with strong flavors of espresso and chocolate. I can't remember the last one. Eh.

So far...so good. Had another Ninkasi at dinner and a sip of a Widmer (might as well while here) at the Portland Bike Festival where we saw Tall Bike Jousting (yes) and a dance-bike troup (yes).

Any other hints or recommendations will be taken seriously. Planning forward includes:
-afternoon (today) at Bridgeport
-Amnesia (we hear the best place)
-Deschutes Brewery in Bend, along with Bend Brewing Co
-Ninkasi in Eugene
-Full Sail in Hood River

On our quest to find the world's best IPA.